The winners dominated the glass, 34-52
Valencia celebrates EuroCup return with 64-80 road win over Jerusalem
Four-time BKT EuroCup winner Valencia Basket has made an impressive comeback to the competition by grabbing a 64-80 victory against Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem at Samokov Arena in Bulgaria on Wednesday evening. The visitors were in control of the duel from the off and imposed their game on Jerusalem, which struggled on offense due to Valencia’s defensive prowess.
Matthew Costello paced Valencia with 16 points and Semi Ojeleye scored 12, with Jean Montero and Nathan Sestina netting 10 each. Former Valencia guard Jared Harper led all scorers with 27 points and Kenneth Smith recorded 10 in defeat.
Game Videos
Xabi Lopez-Arostegui opened the scoring with a slam before Sestina netted 2 triples in a row to give Valencia a 2-8 lead. Yet, Jerusalem made the most of some Valencia turnovers and took the lead 10-8, with Harper, Yovel Zoosman and Chris Johnson opening their accounts. The visitors responded with an Ojeleye triple before Sestina took his tally to an early 8 points with a bucket inside, 10-14. Then, Stefan Jovic, Costello and Jaime Pradilla came off the bench to extend Valencia’s lead to 14-26 heading into the second quarter.
Johnson and Xabi Lopez-Arostegui exchanged triples, with Valencia maintaining a double-digit lead, 19-31. An Ojeleye dunk after a smooth team move was followed by a Smith buzzer-beating midrange jumper on the other end, before Jovic hit in transition to make it 22-35. Montero scored the next 8 Valencia points before setting up Costello, who netted a layup in transition for a 29-45 cushion at the break.
Three points from Smith were followed by a hard-fought basket from Sestina, who became the first Valencia player to reach double digits in scoring, 32-47. Lopez-Arostegui responded to a Harper triple with a floater before Smith hit 2 free throws to trim the deficit to 37-49. Buckets from Costello, Jovic and Nathan Reuvers saw Valencia extend its lead again, with the visitors taking a 44-59 cushion into the closing quarter.
Harper scored 7 points, with Wiley sinking a hard-fought basket to cut the difference to 53-63. Yet, Valencia responded with triples from Josep Puerto and Costello to make it 55-69. Then, Costello’s fifth basket from inside was followed by a Montero bucket and an Ojeleye triple to extend Valencia’s lead to 57-76, with the visitors practically putting the game to bed with less than 3 minutes to go.